Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles (Hardcover)

by Christopher P. Baker (Author) "Before 1959 Cuba was the hottest spot in the Caribbean, notorious for its glittering casinos, smooth rum, fabulous beaches, beautiful women, and a caliente nightlife..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Chevrolet Bel-Air, Sancti Spiritus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this paean to the vintage car, Baker, who has also provided the photos, juxtaposes American autos against the backdrop of Cuba to great effect. "Today, Cuba possesses about 450,000 cars, of which one-sixth are pre-revolutionary American autos dating back to the ’20s and ’30s," he writes. Most of the cars pictured here, however, come from the 1950s: a pristine-looking green 1950 Chevrolet Styline Bel-Air is parked alongside a gray, weathered house; in the foreground an old man in a straw hat walks by eating from two ice cream cones. Not all of the photos are of the best quality (there are random, grainy pictures of people on the streets and free-frame photos of cars in motion), but overall, the photos effectively capture the beauty of the vintage cars themselves as well as the country that keeps them running. This photographic history is a nice companion to Baker’s award-winning travel memoir, Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro’s Cuba.
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From Booklist
Travel writer Baker has been to Cuba 20 times to research books, and one of the more fascinating aspects of contemporary Cuba did not escape his notice: it is the "largest American car museum in the world." Before Castro, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, Cuba imported a vast number of cars from the U.S, but since the embargo, no more cars can be brought across the Florida Strait. Consequently, the islanders are left to make do--to repair and relish the cars they owned before the embargo. Baker's lively text and rousing photographs give a palpable sense of the "time warp" experienced by tourists to today's Cuba as they, say, spot a 1952 Ford Victoria, catch a glimpse of a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker, or closely observe a 1959 Studebaker Lark. The photographs are the major draw here, for Baker catches these prized vehicles, most held together only by a creative use of spare parts, in full-length profiles, up-close details, at rest, or zooming by on street and road. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 189 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Books (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566565464
• ISBN-13: 978-1566565462
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 10.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #925,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic on Cuban Classic Cars, August 13, 2004

By	Tony Tedeschi "editor, naturaltraveler.com" (Glen Cove, NY) - See all my reviews

Chris Baker is the preeminent travel writer covering Cuba today. His guidebooks for National Geographic Traveler and Moon Publishing are biblical Baedekers for anyone traveling to the island. "Mi Moto Fidel," his book-length journey around the island on a BMW motorcycle, reads like a Hemingwayan novel -- and has garnered prestigious writing awards. Now, with "Cuba Classics," Baker has taken his already impressive act to a new level, displaying his skill as a photographer, which is nothing short of artistry. His stunning photographs of vintage American autos -- so plentiful in Cuba -- are not only wonderful depictions of cars not seen in the U.S. for decades, but are the subjects of photos that demonstrate a photographer's instinctively artistic command of format, color, tone, and lighting. Settings for the autos often speak to the greater issue of the Cuban landscape, both urban and rural. It's a must book for car buffs, for anyone interested in photographic artistry, for anyone enamoured of beautiful writing. As a long-time fan of Baker's journalism, I have found myself asking what else could he possibly do to present another aspect of this island country he knows and loves? "Cuba Classics" is the latest answer to that question. Kudos.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cars & Cuba Knockout, December 4, 2004

By	James OReilly "baboone" (Northern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yes, we've all seen great photos of classic cars in Cuba--but this book will make you swoon. Your knees will buckle, and you will become feverish with desire to get yourself to Cuba as soon as possible. Magnificent.

1.0 out of 5 stars Great Effort poor printquality and poor photography, April 23, 2009

By	John J. Falkenstine - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Christopher Baker might fancy himself a photographer, but in this book, he overreached himself. Poor photography technique and lack of skills are evident throughout all of the pictures. You name it, composition, shooting into bright light causing almost everything in the image to be underexposed, out of focus, flash set wrong, depth of field off, its just plain horrible. luckily I didn't pay too much for it. Soon I hope I can go and take better pictures. Don't spend any money on this book. There's better out there. BTW the print quality is also wretched, paper is not thick enough or the right type, so it all has a weird wrinkled feel to it.